German Online Gaming and Software Development start-ups on a trade mission to Ireland

From September 8th to September 11th the German Irish Chamber was hosting a Trade Mission in the framework of the German Mittelstand of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Eight German companies from the area of educational and online gaming and software development visited Ireland to explore business opportunities with potential Irish business partners of the gaming and software development sector. This Trade Mission was aimed at establishing and maintaining German-Irish business partnerships in the Software Development and Online-gaming sector.

Paul Lynam, President of the German-Irish Chamber and CEO of Siemens Ireland opened the German Irish Digital Innovation Summit at the Guinness Enterprise Centre with a welcome speech. The speech was followed by discussion panels of German and Irish experts about most important topics in the industry and presentations of the visiting German companies. “I found the presentations extremely insightful. The event was a really useful insight into the German-Irish dynamic in respect of innovations and developments in the game and software sector”, said Paddy Stapleton, Senior Tax Manager of Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon.

German and Irish expertise in the area of software development, online gaming and educational gaming were brought together through various discussion panels following each experts talk.

Thierry Baujard, Founder and CEO of Media Deals spoke about the needs for alternative financing in the software development and online gaming industry.

Paul Sweetman, Director of the Irish Software Association explained the need for skills, research & development in the software industry to enhance business opportunities in the digital economy.

Thorsten Unger, CEO of Wegesrand & GAME German Association for Computer Gaming, illustrated the German Gaming Market Outlook.

Eight German start-up companies, from the area of educational and online gaming and software development were excited to be attending this Trade Mission. They were showcasing at the Innovation Summit and they have had various private meetings with Irish companies to discuss business opportunities.

“As a three year old German start up in the area of e-commerce, this is our first venture into an export market and it was really positive. We are currently working on great projects with big German companies, but the decision-making period can take a lot of time. Irish companies are smaller which means they are more accessible, more flexible and willing to try things out. We had some great meetings - in particular we met three Irish e-commerce companies that are really interested in our services. We have set up follow up meetings and will prepare a demo to show to them when we are back in Dublin for the Web Summit in early November”, explained David Urbansky, CEO of Semknox GmbH.

The German Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce was delighted to welcome the following German companies in Dublin: B-interaktive GmbH, Bittner+Krull Softwaresysteme GmbH, Experimental Game GmbH, Kunst-stoff GmbH, Pfeffermind UG, SEMKNOX GmbH, The Good Evil GmbH and Tutorize GmbH. Numerous business meetings with potential Irish business partners had been arranged to support the German companies to break into the Irish gaming and software development market.

The Digital Innovation Summit turned out to be a successful event and helped the visiting German companies to enter the Irish market. “The AHK has exceeded all our expectations and we have benefited of the professional support of the team of the German Irish Chamber. We got excellent preparation for the meetings with the Irish companies and we have enjoyed being accompanied by the team of the Chamber. Within this week we have already established business relationships with Irish companies and we are working on projects together – especially with Sirus Ireland”, said Robert Bachmaier, Head of Sales of Bittner + Krull.

Please see a press video from the event made by Silicon Republic, Ireland’s leading online tech magazine